Children's home run by Keys Direct Care Limited in Southend-on-Sea

Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 1 SC482380 Registered provider: Keys Direct Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home registered with Ofsted on 17 June 2019.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/04/2021 Full Outstanding 14/01/2020 Full Good 01/05/2018 Full Good 27/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living at the home. The children are happy and settled. Two of the children have lived at the home long term and experience stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child who has recently moved in did so in a planned way. The manager worked well with professionals to assess the child’s compatibility with the other children and to ensure that their needs could be met. When children move on from the home, staff remain in contact with them. Children are invited back to plant a tree in the large garden. The trees are planted in honour of the children and the progress that they have made. Maintaining important relationships helps the children to feel valued and respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have strong relationships with staff and enjoy spending time with them. The staff are kind, nurturing and are proud of the children’s progress. Staff know the children well and have a good understanding of their needs. One child said, ‘All the staff genuinely care for me.’ Staff provide strong and consistent boundaries. These boundaries help the children to develop routines, which improves their independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff actively encourage children to attend education. They see education as an important part of children’s daily lives. If a child’s education is disrupted, staff implement daily routines that help the child continue to learn each day. Children are making good educational progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm, homely and child-friendly environment. Bedrooms are personalised to reflect their preferences. The recent addition of two pet cats supports the children to learn further caring responsibilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff focus on meeting the children’s primary health needs and work effectively with specialist mental health teams, when necessary, to meet the children’s additional needs. This work has been beneficial, and self-harming incidents have significantly reduced for one child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are learning to cook and budget for meals. However, the tasks that children carry out are repetitive, which could reduce their interest.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children feel safe because the staff provide them with a stable and safe home. There are no concerns about bullying at the home. Staff support children individually to understand appropriate interactions with each other. Children benefit from companionship and stability. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 4 Staff understand the risks for the children and actively help them to manage these. Children have individualised missing-from-home protocols which support staff if the children go missing. Missing-from-home incidents are rare. However, when they do occur, staff actively search for children and debrief them on their return. Children have return home interviews with an independent person. Staff use information from the interviews to develop further risk-reduction measures.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff help the children to develop personal safety strategies. Frequent and effective one-to-one sessions cover important topics, including online safety, coping strategies and sleep hygiene.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Physical intervention is only used as a last resort. The supporting records are comprehensive and include how staff de-escalate situations. There is good managerial oversight of the records to ensure that interventions are necessary and proportionate. Children and staff are debriefed following any intervention.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff use appropriate consequences to deter unwanted behaviours. They record the reason for the consequence and the outcome. The manager evaluates the records to establish the effectiveness. Consequences help the children to understand acceptable behaviours. The staff focus on children’s positive behaviours and the children earn daily incentives.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Detailed risk assessments are carried out for the children which cover all aspects of their home life. However, one risk assessment for an external activity has failed to fully consider the child’s presenting needs. As a result, an incident occurred which compromised the children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has the required qualifications and experience for the role. He is child focused and dedicated. He strives for the best possible outcomes for children. He has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and the areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff have good working partnerships with other agencies and professionals, such as the local authority, social workers and the health service. One professional said that the staff work like a ‘tight ship’ and that communication is excellent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has formulated a detailed location risk assessment. This helps to inform matching decisions at the point of a child being referred to the home. It also informs staff of potential risks in the community and provides risk-reduction strategies to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the home has experienced high staff turnover. The management team has managed this without compromising the number of permanent staff on shift. The organisation recognises that staff retention is a problem and has devised opportunities for staff to progress within the company. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 5 Monitoring systems are good. The independent person’s reports and visits are thorough. Resulting actions from the visits and reports drive improvements. The manager works effectively with the independent person to create positive change in response to their findings. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 9 February 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are prepared to live independently and supported to learn practical skills. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Direct Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Second Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Paula Lewis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC482380 8 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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